


Scapegoat

by trialanderror12



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: En Dwi kicks the bucket, Loki and Thor Are Not Related, Loki is En Dwi's Pepper, M/M, Minor Character Death, Prisoner Loki (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:33:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22784113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trialanderror12/pseuds/trialanderror12
Summary: When Loki's boss is murdered, he appears as the prime suspect in the case.The evidence mounts up too high to overcome, and Thor finds himself in a race against the clock to overturn Loki's conviction. And then there's the strange woman Loki's locked up with, who's dropping cryptic hints that she might know who put him there...
Relationships: Loki/Thor, Loki/Thor (Marvel)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The prison in Guardians was co-ed... Give me a little leeway on that one, if you please <3

"Again?" the housekeeper demanded as she entered the room to find the lights already on and Loki seated at his desk. Loki's lips quirked upward. 

"I'm afraid so, Liv," he confirmed, re-reading the email for a second time before clicking send. "No rest for the wicked, as they say."

"It's not good for you," she chided him, shaking her head as she moved to empty the recycling bin. "And what about your man, hm? What does he have to say about this?" 

"Oh, he's very much in your corner," Loki assured her. He opened a document Mr. Gast would need for his next call and clicked print. "There's a reason the two of you will never meet. I don't think I'd survive the experience." He caught Olivia roll her eyes as he made his way over to the printer.

"You have to stop jumping whenever he calls," she chided. Loki side-stepped so she could get by to wipe his desk clean. "I swear he only asks you to do half of what he does because he knows you won't say no."

"Mm. If only the old bastard would do us the favor of dying already, the board might instate someone familiar with the term 'work-life balance'," he returned, a brief flash of teeth in his grin.

"You're incorrigible," Olivia sighed, hefting the full bags into her bins and turning to go. "I should know better by now, I suppose." Her phone beeped, and she smiled. "There's _my_ man. Here to pick me up, right on time as always."

"Finished for the day?" Loki wasn't jealous, not in the slightest.

"You're my last stop. I'm always holding out hope you'll be gone before I get here," she said pointedly, eyeing him over her cart.

Loki laughed. "One of these days you'll get your wish," he returned. "Enjoy your evening."

She was halfway out the door before a thought struck him. "Oh, could you ask Lester to look at the shredder on Monday?" he called over his shoulder. "It was acting up earlier." 

"You got it!" she called back, her voice echoing down the hallway.. "Now get out of here already!"

Loki shook his head fondly and took a moment to check his personal phone. He had a text from Thor, which made a giddy excitement bubble up in him even after all these years. He swiped his thumb across the screen and a picture filled the screen: Thor's beaming face in their living room, an assortment of snacks on the coffee table and the title screen of their favorite movie flashing on the television. _All that's missing is my favorite pillow_ , read the accompanying text message. 

_Your pillow will be on his way shortly_ , he typed in response. _ETA T-minus—_

He glanced at the clock on his phone and balked. The call with their Japanese counterpart had begun four minutes ago, and the document he'd put together for it was still sitting on his desk. He snatched it up and whirled around, bursting through the double-doors behind his desk as quickly and quietly as one could do so. That arrogant bastard! Gift of gab or no, this wasn't the sort of call you could play by ear. Why hadn't he just come out and—

Loki stopped dead. For a long moment, his brain was utterly silent. His senses came back to him slowly. First he became aware of his breath, rattling shakily through his lungs. He could feel his heart thumping in his chest, pumping blood through his—

Blood. Oh god, the blood, there was so much blood...

"En!" Loki cried, running forward and throwing himself to his knees beside En Dwi's body. The wound was still bleeding sluggishly; that meant there was a chance, right? That he was still—

"Oh my god, En! En, wake up!" His chest felt tight, and his hands when he moved them to the hole in En's chest— _pressure, put pressure on the wound, you fucking idiot, that's the first thing you should have_ —were shaking. He pressed down harder with one hand and slid bloody fingers into his pocket to retrieve his phone, tears blurring his vision as he tried and failed to dial 9-1-1 twice. The sound of the phone ringing on his third attempt would have been a relief if he had been capable of feeling anything other than panic in that moment.. 

"9-1-1, what's the nature of your—"

"Help, you have to send help!" Loki cried hysterically. "My boss, he's, oh god, he's not breathing! I don't—"

"Sir, please take a breath. What's the location of the emergency?"

Loki rattled off the address and applied the rudimentary first aid the operator coached him through as though he were standing outside his body watching this happen to someone else. The carpet stained red with blood, the knife glinting in the light where it laid on the floor, the heat of En Dwi's skin under his hands—warm, he was still warm, this had just happened (how? How could this have just—). There was still time, there had to be, En couldn't be—

The EMS workers that burst through the door might as well have been angels, as far as Loki was concerned. Korg came up with them, going on about prank phone calls and there being no need for all the fuss, though he quieted when he saw the shaking, bloody mess Loki made as he was ushered out of En Dwi's office and back into his own. Korg blanched. "Oi, did something happen, then?" 

"He'll be okay," Loki said aloud, white as a sheet. "He'll— It'll be fine. He has to be. He has to be," he chanted, staring down at his own bloody hands, at the phone clutched between his fingers. There was a sudden commotion, and then the EMS workers were bustling out of the room. They were carrying a stretcher, and atop it was…

Loki fell back into his antique chair with a loud crack, the pressure of his collapse breaking one of the legs. It stayed standing, if only just, and Loki followed the ungainly procession with his eyes as they made their way past Korg's stone-still form.

"Well," Korg said after a moment, shuffling his feet awkwardly. "That's, uh. Right, I suppose I should—" 

He was saved by the timely ringing of Loki's phone. Loki lifted the phone to his ear; blood smeared across his cheek.

"Hey," came Thor's voice, tinny and distant through the speaker. "I got worried when you left me on read. Gast isn't keeping my husband away from me again tonight, is he?" 

"He's dead," Loki replied flatly, staring listlessly at the wall on the opposite side of the room. "En Dwi is dead."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It appears the only way I can write this story is in tiny chapters. Ah well, I hope you enjoy regardless :)

Loki was still sitting in his broken chair when Thor arrived, eyes wild and frantic. Forensics had taken over En Dwi's office and Loki was certain his own would be next, but no one had asked him to move yet and he had no intention of doing so until they did. (Frankly, he wasn't sure he'd be able to even then.) An officer had tried to ask him a few questions and had apparently found his responses wanting; he'd left him alone for the time being, for which Loki was grateful.

"My cufflinks," he said when Thor knelt down in front of him and asked breathlessly if he was all right. "I seem to have lost one." The remaining one was covered in blood, as were his crisp white shirtsleeves and the charcoal-gray of his suit. His hands were covered in it, and he made a distressed sound in the back of his throat when he noticed that his wedding ring was bloodied as well. 

Thor's gaze flitted over to the paramedic standing beside Loki, a clear question in his eyes. 

"He's in shock," she told Thor kindly. "Just give him time."

A commotion at the door drew Loki's gaze; two men stood in the doorway to his office, talking quietly with the officer who'd attempted to question him before. Thor squeezed his hand tightly to regain his attention, his fingers slipping somewhat in the mess on Loki's fingers, but he held on.

"Hey," Thor said softly, and Loki reached out thoughtlessly to smooth the furrow from his brow, trying his best to drown in the ocean of his eyes, to forget the rest of the world as it closed in on him. "It's gonna be okay, baby. I'm here." But when Loki withdrew his hand he saw that he'd stained Thor's skin with blood, and he whimpered, mute with horror. His hand shook within Thor's grasp.

"I— I can't—"

"Mr. Laufeyson?" a kind voice questioned, and Loki turned his head to see that the two newcomers had approached him. "I'm Detective Rogers, and this is Detective Barnes." Rogers' eyes were gentle, and blue like Thor's, and Loki tried to focus on that rather than what they surely wanted of him. The thought of reliving everything that had happened… His chest felt tight, and his heart pounded in his ears.

"It seems you've been through quite an ordeal tonight. I'm sorry about that," Rogers continued. He glanced briefly at Thor and then back to Loki. "Do you keep a change of clothes here? You might feel a little better if you cleaned up a bit."

Loki blinked a few times and then nodded shakily, surprised and grateful for the reprieve. "I— Yes." There was a small restroom between his and En's office, which only the two of them used. Loki kept fresh clothes in there to change into before heading home at night. He swallowed thickly and let out a slow, deep breath through his nose. This was an actionable task, something that he could do. He just had to focus, take one step at a time. 

"All right. Take all the time you need, okay? We'll wait for you." Loki nodded again and stood, clinging to Thor for a few moments to regain his balance. The whole world felt tilted, wrong. A few deep breaths and he felt steadier, at least physically, and he managed a nod at Thor that he hoped was reassuring before making his way slowly to the bathroom.

One step at a time.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter was too short, so here, have the next one :)

All the evidence stacked up rather neatly pointing to Loki's guilt. No one else had entered or exited the building after Olivia had left; Korg, manning security on the ground floor and constantly visible on security cameras, had been the only other soul in the building at the time of the murder. There were no cameras in either Loki's or En's office, of course; business such as En's demanded privacy, especially for one as paranoid as he had been. This was circumstantial, Loki's attorney assured him, and easily dismissed.

Then they found Loki's prints on the knife.

The knife that had killed En—the knife that Loki had never touched. He'd touched En, certainly, trying to resuscitate him, but the knife… He was certain he had never picked it up. 

Rogers and Barnes had let Loki leave after he recounted his story the night of the murder, but the knife, that changed things. They arrived at his and Thor's apartment solemn-faced, handing over an arrest warrant and asking Loki to come with them. Loki swore up and down he hadn't touched the knife, and Rogers' eyes were sad when he said he believed him.

"I've got a knack for telling when people are lying," he had said apologetically, as the cuffs clicked shut over Loki's wrists. "And you're not. But there's evidence against you, and I have to do my job. I'm sorry." And he'd sounded it, however little difference it made for Loki. 

And now they were here, a week after the murder, Thor clutching Loki's hand tightly in the small meeting room in the courthouse where their attorney was preparing them for the bail hearing. "It's rather straightforward," he said, confidence dripping from every pore. "You're not a flight risk. You've been an upstanding member of this community for years, you're not independently wealthy. Yes, they have evidence against you, but bail shouldn't be a problem. It can take forever to get to trial, and you'll do much better if your nerves are settled waiting at home than in jail."

They'd given him a change of clothes for the hearing, and even though he'd only been there three nights, the soft fabric of his own button-down felt alien against his skin after the scratch of prison clothing. His ring finger was still bare where Thor clutched his hand, his wedding ring confiscated along with the rest of his personal effects when he'd arrived at the detention center. He felt naked without it.

Loki zoned out of the rest of the conversation, letting the tone of Thor's worried voice and the attorney's assured one wash over him as he soaked in the warmth of having Thor pressed up against his side. They hadn't been apart more than a night in years; the last three had been torture.

Loki kept his back straight and his expression neutral as they entered the courtroom, and Thor only released his hand at the last moment as he slipped into the row behind the defense table. Loki's palm was still warm from his touch, and he closed his fist around it to savor the feeling. It would be all right. It had to be. He hadn't done anything wrong.

The bail hearing began how he'd been instructed it would; luckily, he wasn't asked to speak. His attorney counted off the reasons he should be allowed to remain at home, assured the judge that Loki had offered to voluntarily surrender his passport as he awaited trial. 

The prosecution offered evidence of his fingerprints on the knife, which the judge instructed them to save for trial; Loki let out a soft exhale of relief. This was going exactly as they'd planned. He wasn't out of the woods yet, but at least he'd be able to go home and sleep beside his husband as they weathered this storm.

"If I may, your honor," said the prosecuting attorney, a wily slip of a man named Taneleer Tivan with a voice like snake oil that sent shivers down Loki's spine. "I have here a document which will demonstrate that Mr. Laufeyson does in fact possess the means to flee if left to his own devices." 

Tivan extended two copies of a document, one of which the bailiff passed along to the judge. The other went to Loki's attorney, who read through it with a frown and then went pale.

"Your honor, I object!" he exclaimed, eyes wide and wild. "This document was not provided to the defense ahead of this hearing. I request a recess to examine—"

"This is a pre-trial hearing, Mr. Ogord," the judge drawled, clearly unimpressed. "I'm certain the prosecution will produce all requisite documentation well in advance of Mr. Laufeyson's trial." He turned back to Tivan expectantly. "You may continue, Mr. Assistant District Attorney."

"Gladly," said Tivan, lips curved slightly upward. "The document I have provided you with details several unusual wire transfers, all in the seven-figure range, distributed to untraceable overseas accounts. Furthermore, you will find attached a sworn affidavit from a forensic officer on the scene, who removed this partially-shredded document from the shredder in the defendant's office."

Loki's mouth fell open; behind him, he heard Thor suck in a sharp breath. That evidence had to have been planted, just like the knife. He had never—

"You will understand of course, your honor, that while these funds remain unaccounted for, the District Attorney's office does not feel comfortable releasing Mr. Laufeyson on his own recognizance." 

The judge flipped through the papers with a considering frown; Loki's attorney balked.

"Your honor, this evidence is circumstantial, I implore the court to—"

"I concur with the District Attorney's office," the judge interrupted, tone final. "The defendant will be remanded to a correctional facility until such time as a trial scheduled. Court is adjourned."

The sound of the gavel colliding with the desk rung in Loki's ears; his breaths came in short gasps, his head spun in circles. He heard Thor's voice behind him, saying—something, he wasn't sure. And then the correctional officers were leading him away.

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea if this will be of interest to anyone but me, but it popped into my head and I had to write it!


End file.
